He was born to a
Turkish family in
Selanik,
Ottoman Empire (modern Thessaloniki,
Greece) in 1881. He took the surname Bele because of his grandfather who was originally from
Byala/Bele,
Bulgaria. Because of the troubles in the
Balkans his family moved first to
Istanbul but settled later back to Thessaloniki when he was an infant. He studied in the
Ottoman Military College, enrolled in the army and became a member of the
Committee of Union and Progress. He took part in the
Italo-Turkish War (1911) and then in the
First Balkan War (1912–1913) in which his hometown was lost to the Greeks. He took part in
World War I where he fought in the rank of a
Lieutenant Colonel under the command of
Kress von Kressenstein in the
Battle of Romani where the Ottoman forces were defeated. In the
Palestine front and during the
Second battle of Gaza he served with distinction. First refusing a surrender and then successfully organizing the withdrawal of the Ottoman and German forces with their weaponry. Nevertheless, Bele was blamed together with
Ismet (Inönü) for the defeat of the Ottomans by
Erich Von Falkenhayn. After the British advance in 1918 he was cut off by his troops but managed to reach the Ottoman base at
Tyre 75 miles north, after traveling one week through British lines. He did not speak English but because he moved at night and responded to questions with saluting and riding on a walk he avoided being captured. He returned to Istanbul after the
Armistice of Mudros in 1918. While in Istanbul, most of Anatolia began to be occupied by foreign powers, the Greeks landed at
İzmir in 1919. In response to the occupation he decided to join the
Turkish nationalist movement and crossed over to Anatolia to organize resistance and join the
Turkish War of Independence which was being led by
Atatürk. He took part in the
Amasya Circular of 1919 and then also in the
Erzurum Congress,
Alaşehir Congress and
Sivas Congress. He later served as minister and later as commander at the Western Front against the Greek armies. He put down several local revolts against the Ankara government. However he had several political disputes with
Atatürk and became out of favor. He was tried in court but acquitted of the
attempted assassination of Atatürk in 1926. In 1926 he retired from the army and parliament deputy. In his later life he took several different occupations including a second deputy time. He died in Istanbul in 1963. ==See also==